Elizabeta Babb: Mother arrested after stranger climbs in through sunroof to rescue children from hot car
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: A woman in Oklahoma climbed through the sunroof of a vehicle parked outside a Walmart last week to rescue two 2-year-olds left inside, according to the reports of Crime online. The vehicle was reportedly parked in direct sunlight on a 98-degree day. The mom Elizabeta Babb, 33, was arrested after she exited an Oklahoma City Walmart after shopping for over a half hour while her two toddlers were strapped in their car seats.
A security guard working for an Oklahoma City Walmart on August 14 reported that the vehicle was hot to the touch and that she had burned her hand in attempting to enter the vehicle, which was parked in direct sunlight. Charlene Cooksey was among the shoppers who tried to rescue the children. “I went into mom mode,” Cooksey told KOCO-TV, describing how she felt when she first learned of the girls in the locked vehicle. Cooksey said she and her husband wanted to break a window using a crowbar, but store security officers were hesitant. “Security guards didn’t know what to do because in their minds, they wanted to wait for the fire department and I was like, ‘screw the fire department, those babies need to get out,’” Cooksey told KOCO-TV.
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Oklahoma City police responded to Walmart at 100 E I-240 Service Road just before 3 pm. The 2-year-old girls were reportedly “unresponsive and buckled in their car seats” when they were found. The children were reportedly in shock and crying after being taken from the vehicle and placed in a security vehicle with air conditioning. Babb professed to have been in the store for “five minutes,” but security cameras indicate she was in the building for about 35 minutes. The store had made announcements asking the driver of the vehicle to come outside, but the mother did not leave the store until she checked out.
"I wanted to see the girl who came out. I wanted to see who would risk their kids just to go into Walmart. I understand it’s hard being a mom and you don’t have anyone to watch your kid, but don’t leave them in the car," Cooksey said. The footage reportedly shows Babb and a young child entering the store around 2.22 pm and then exiting the building six minutes later. But Babb then quickly walks back into the store alone, according to KOKH-TV. It is not clear what happened to the child who had accompanied her earlier. Babb was arrested on two counts of child neglect. She was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail. The children were reportedly released to their grandmother because their father was out of town.